Tuesday, January 31, 2012

New Delhi: For years poor maintenance of DDA group housing societies has been a sore point with flat owners.Finally,there is a silver lining in the clouds.

DDA has decided to pay up for maintenance and repair the common areas in these societies.Now,each DDA group housing society or colony comprising 100 or more houses will get Rs 10 lakh each as one-time payment for upkeep.

The decision was taken on the sidelines of the 2012-13 budget meeting on Monday.The land owning agency has constructed more than 100,000 houses in the last few decades.

Sources say a large number of houses,which were constructed around 30 years back,are in urgent need of repair.

In many old DDA colonies boundary walls,staircases,shafts for pipes are broken.These colonies are in a very bad shape.It has been decided to give Rs 10 lakh per 100 dwelling units for repair and maintenance of the colonies to RWAs,which are registered with us, said Jitender Kochar,member,DDA.

A DDA official said,The request for repair from RWA will be examined by DDA officials.The engineering department will prepare the estimates for repair and maintenance based on which the money will be released.

Sources say low income group (LIG) and Janata flats are in a dilapidated condition.The middle income group (MIG) and high income group (HIG) housing units are still in better shape as individual allottees are maintaining them.However,most of the flats need urgent repair, said a DDA official.

Following directions from Lieutenant Governor Tejendra Khanna,the land owning agency is also working on a proposal for societies or colonies,which require extensive repair work.

As per the plan,DDA will pay 50% of the total repair cost while the rest will be paid by RWAs.

There are several societies which need a facelift.And the expenditure on them is likely to run into crores.In such cases,DDA will pay just 50% of the total cost incurred on repair and maintenance.This is mainly for old group housing societies, said Kochar.
The DDA also approved its budget for 2012-13 on Monday.

The land-owning agency is optimistic about getting revenue worth Rs 7888.26 crore in 2012-13 from disposal of land,houses and shops.The agency also plans to spend a large chunk of its earnings on construction of housing societies.

It has allocated Rs 1,277 crore for the construction of houses and shops in Dwarka,Narela and Rohini in the next financial year.

It also plans to construct community halls and sports facilities in various part of the city for which Rs 39.90 crore and Rs 97.31 crore has been allocated respectively.
With an aim to provide healthy and better environment to Delhiites,the agency has allocated Rs 638 crore for the development of greens in the city.

Meanwhile,DDA has decided to refund Rs 1.05 lakh to 212 people who had applied for 2010 house allotment scheme.

Their initial deposit while applying for the draw was forfeited by DDA as they had provided wrong information in their application forms.

Earlier,DDA was not planning to return the money,but now it has been decided that DDA will deduct Rs 20,000 and return the rest of the money to 212 applicants, Kochar said.

BUDGET HIGH-POINTS

1277.55 cr allocated for construction of houses and shops

39 cr allocated for construction of 13 community halls

638.44 cr for maintenance of greens.Special focus on development of Astha Kunj,Sat Pula Lake complex and Yamuna River Front